After the Glow
by BettieBoneshaker
Summary: What happens when the pain is too much? Shilo falls, but who will be there to catch her?  Rated M because 1  It's Repo! a wonderland of inapropriateness, and 2 eventual lemons *it just has to be done*
1. Chapter 1

Falling Slowly: Prologue

*This is my very first fanfic! I hope you guys enjoy! I do not own Repo!, I may add oc's later, but i'm not sure. I think this story has the potential to be very long. Reviews are greatly appreciated, I want to improve!*

Shilo Wallace lay in the middle of the floor in her father's room, fresh from the violent throes of a Zydrate withdrawal session. "This is it." She thought aloud.

Two solid months of nothing but physical and emotional pain were wearing her sanity dangerously thin; and coupled with the crushing loneliness that permeated the house it was dragging her closer to the edge by the second. She was nearly delirious from days without food or sleep. "Something has to break." She said. "Might as well be me."

Shilo struggled to her feet and went to the balcony. The air was damp and chilly, like most nights on Sanitarium Island and she was shivering. She looked down at the people in the square, and hated them. Most of the people on the island were as fake as their designer body parts. After the Opera people came around to be nosy, or to blame her for her father repossessing something from a loved one of theirs. They all forgot about her as soon as the next big headline in the Evening Slice was printed. The latest new surgery to hit the market was far more interesting than a little girl who had lost everything in one night… All for their entertainment.

Exhausted Shilo climbed up onto the wide, weathered railing and took a deep breath. And without so much as a final thought she closed her eyes and leaned forward into death's arms.

As Shilo fell she noted a remarkable thing: She was falling _backwards_. She hit the cold ground in seconds; swearing that she had heard a voice call out to her. Then she knew no more.


	2. Chapter 2

Inside Graverobber's head a battle was raging and he didn't know if he was winning or losing. He had been debating with himself for weeks whether to go and see the Kid. There had been no news about her since about two weeks after the Opera when GeneCo's latest fad, Patterned Skin Grafts made headlines. "It's not like we were friends or anything." He thought to himself. "It wasn't right what happened to her, but what am I supposed to do about that?" He decided to compromise between curiosity and douchebaggery and go and see if the kid was still alive by looking in the windows of her house.

When he arrived at the graveyard across the street from the Kid's house only one light in the old monstrosity was on. He climbed on top of a mausoleum to get a better view. As he watched the window Shilo carried a cardboard box by and knelt by a dresser to start packing. She filled the box and stood up to grab something and suddenly fell out of view. Graverobber heard her screaming and his higher nature won; he was going to see the Kid.

He launched himself over the security fence in front of the house and tried the door. Upon finding it locked he extracted a lock pick from his pocket and began to frantically work the lock. Two of the tumblers went easily, but the third stayed firmly jammed into place. He was about to give up and kick the door in when he heard a *click* from inside the lock, letting him know that he had won. By this time the screaming had stopped and he began to fear what he would find when he reached her. He found the stairs and took them two at a time to the fourth floor and burst into the only lit room.

To his surprise, Shilo was not on the floor in front of the dresser. He scanned the room quickly and not seeing her, decided to search the house for her. He was about to turn and leave the room when he caught a flash of white out of the corner of his eye. He looked to the balcony and there was the Kid, standing on the railing. He bolted across the floor and pulled her back off the balcony, sending them both crashing into the cold, marble floor below.


	3. Chapter 3

When Shilo awoke in her bed a while later, she convinced herself that she had dreamed her suicide attempt. Her thoughts were hazy, but she was sure that she remembered being in her father's room rather than hers. Her head was pounding and when she tried to sit up her stomach knotted violently; forcing her back down. She fought back the heavy wave of nausea and slipped back into unconsciousness.

In a wingback chair across the room Graverobber sat unaware of Shilo's attempt at waking. He was thoroughly lost in his own thoughts. He had stopped the Kid from killing herself, but what was he supposed to do now? He considered leaving before she woke up but quickly tempered that thought with one of "What if she does it again?". The thought sickened him. Images of the Kid lying on the street with someone extracting Glow from her brain attacked him and he was unable to bear them. Here was the last Real and Pure thing on this godforsaken island and she was going to die without help. Seeing as he had played a part in some of her troubles, the least he could do was to teach her how to survive. He stood and began pacing, wondering what had possessed him and how he was going to pull this off.

Shilo was awakened by the sound of heavy footsteps very close to her. She scrambled up in the bed and looked around , wild and bleary eyed. She saw a large, distorted form on the other side of her plastic curtains and began to search frantically for something that she could use as a weapon. The only thing near was a glass of water on the bedside table , so she picked it up and prepared to hurl it at the intruder who was now headed towards the bed. The curtain drew back and Shilo dropped her weapon in surprise, it landing with a crash on the floor.

"Are you really here?" she said breathlessly. Grave robber gave a rakish grin and said:"Duh.."

He looked at Shilo and cringed inwardly. The Kid's hair was a tangled mess, her eyes were ringed with dark purple circles from lack of sleep and she was so painfully thin that it made him sick to look at her.

"Why did you come here?" she asked softly, extracting him from his thoughts. "I was in the neighborhood and saw you up on the balcony, so I thought it was high time for a visit!" he said quickly. He wasn't quite ready to deal with all the other thoughts and feelings floating around in his little black heart just yet. "Maybe you should have just let me jump." She said, looking at the floor. "Not on your life, Kid. You're about to learn how to live" he said and sat next to her on the bed.


	4. Chapter 4

An angry growl came from deep within Shilo's stomach; startling both her and Graverobber back into the present moment. He was about to ask her how long it had been since she had last eaten, but after a good look at her… He knew it hadn't been recently. At once he sprang to his feet and started for the door. Shilo stared after him; eyes sad and mouth agape like a fish out of water. As he reached the door he called over his shoulder: "I'll be back in a few minutes. Don't get any funny ideas about climbing on that rail again while I'm gone…" Shilo nodded weakly and lay back down; too drained for much else.

Graverobber contemplated sliding down the long banister but figured that the amount of splinters he might pick up in an old mausoleum of a house like this one would be too much. He settled on taking the stairs on 2 at a time. Part of him *and by part, I mean 95% of him* wanted to run like hell and never return there again. There were a million viable *to Graverobber* reasons why getting involved in the kid's life was a terrible idea. He was having a hard time figuring out why he even went there in the first place; and now here he was going to buy the kid food. He rounded the corner into the square with a look so intense on his face that an approaching scalpel slut shrank back, too afraid to ask for a hit of Z.

Sanitarium Square was packed as usual with stalls selling everything from clothing to minor surgical procedures. This was also the only place to find food that wasn't freeze dried. Fresh food on the Island is the only commodity more precious than Zydrate or new organs. Nothing grows on the Island so meat and vegetables are shipped in. The Largo family owned Italian eateries get first pick of all the food shipments leaving the other vendors to fight over the scraps; but the other places managed somehow.

He scanned the square quickly and decided on the sandwich shop closest to him. He ordered two large turkey hoagies *since birds were fairly cheap even with the extra shipping costs* loaded with every sandwich topping they had. "If she doesn't like it, she can pick it off " he thought. He stared off deep in thought while the greasy looking kid making the food dropped a basket full of French fries in the oil. He set it in his mind that he would take the kid the food and then go about his way. Conscience satisfied, he gets to retain his life; everybody wins. The cashier called out his order , breaking him from his thoughts. He picked it up and started back to the Kid's house with his mind made up.

Shilo stirred at the sound of heavy footfalls coming up the stairs. Fear almost took her again until she smelled the savory aroma of food coming closer. Her heart fairly leapt with excitement at this because it meant that Graverobber had actually come back. She had never really expected him to, but here he was… And he had brought food! She scooted up to a sitting position and smiled widely at him when he came into the room. Graverobber moved the wingback chair closer to the bed and handed her a sandwich and a bag of insanely hot fries. Shilo wanted to say so many things to him; but it was all forgotten the moment that the food was in her hand. She no longer wanted anything except to tear into the food like a starved wolf, and she did, burning her mouth with the fries several times in the process.

Graverobber raised a surprised and slightly impressed eyebrow at the ferocity of Shilo's eating before opening his own sandwich. They ate in silence for a while before Shilo stopped mid sandwich. She wrapped it up and flopped back on the bed; her tiny belly now visibly distended from all the food. "Thank you" she said softly. "Thank you for being here and bringing me food… And for pulling me off the rail. I think I can make it now since you're going to help me." Graverobber nearly choked on his sandwich. He had forgotten he had said that he was going to help her out. His magnificent plan went completely out the window. He looked at her; her face written all over with unabashed joy and he felt… Guilty. He knew in his heart that he couldn't leave her and live with himself; but he didn't know what he was going to do with her either. He grunted an acknowledgement and turned he focus to his sandwich and full mind.


End file.
